Gwangju City's Gender Equality Promotion Policy Recognized by the Government

Ranked First Among All Metropolitan Local Governments Nationwide

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City's policy to spread gender equality has been recognized by the government.

On the 2nd, Gwangju announced that it was selected as the top metropolitan local government nationwide in the gender impact assessment conducted by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family targeting a total of 305 institutions including government agencies and metropolitan and basic local governments, and received the Prime Minister's Award.

This evaluation was conducted based on each institution's "2019 Gender Impact Assessment Comprehensive Results Report," and Gwangju was recognized for its contribution to spreading a culture of gender equality through proactive and preemptive gender-sensitive policy implementation.

In 2019, Gwangju confirmed and operated 60 gender-sensitive budgets through expert face-to-face consulting among a total of 162 projects including mayoral pledge projects and gender impact assessment target projects. The Women's Family Policy Officer was promoted to the Women's Family Bureau, establishing a foundation for institutional promotion and a linkage system with gender-sensitive budgets, thereby internalizing gender sensitivity in administration and enhancing the realization of gender equality.

Additionally, Gwangju operated a total of 14 educational programs including gender sensitivity improvement training for executives at grade 5 and above, providing gender sensitivity education to 1,819 internal employees. Efforts were also made to spread a culture of gender equality by conducting specialized training for the gender-sensitive budget monitoring team and gender impact assessment consultants.

Furthermore, a detailed expert cooperation system was systematized through a series of processes such as 1:1 expert consulting for gender impact assessment target projects (60 cases), expert consulting for selecting gender-sensitive budget target projects (34 cases), monitoring of key gender-sensitive budget projects (100 cases), and gender-sensitive settlement consulting (100 cases). The city also established and operated a gender governance (TF team) system for discussion and cooperation among the public, private, and academic sectors, striving to enhance the effectiveness of projects.

Among 659 promotional materials issued by the city and autonomous districts, a specific gender impact assessment was conducted on 51 items, presenting 55 improvement suggestions. The city actively promoted gender equality policies by establishing and distributing the "Guidelines for Producing Promotional Materials from a Gender-Sensitive Perspective" and hosting a forum to explore directions for gender impact assessment of promotional projects.

This year, the city has confirmed 74 gender impact assessment target projects in areas with significant ripple effects such as safety, jobs, and pledge projects, further expanding gender impact assessments to life-oriented projects.

Since the 7th local government, Gwangju has become a model case for other cities and provinces by actively working to build a gender-equal Gwangju through the establishment of the Women's Family Bureau and expanding the appointment of women as heads of investment and contribution institutions, thereby strengthening women's social participation and decision-making involvement.

Kang Young-sook, head of Gwangju's Women's Family Bureau, said, "At a time when the number of women receiving unemployment benefits has doubled compared to men due to COVID-19, and the desire for a gender-equal society is stronger than ever, being selected as an excellent institution in the gender impact assessment holds even more special meaning." She added, "Despite the difficult daily life responding to COVID-19, we will do our best to continuously promote policies for gender equality and create a happy Gwangju for all."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.